Adjustable height golf practice tee with hinged striking plate



Dec. 15, 1964 D. H. COCKBURN 3,161,411

ADJUSTABLE HEIGHT cow PRACTICE TEE WITH ING HINGED STRIK PLATE Filed Dec. 11, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l x zy2712 2 INVENT'UR Awp H mm'a/v CocKBl/Rh/ )5 F/NRBANH V 14 13:! I ATTORNEY Dec. 15, 1964 CQCKBURN 3,161,411 ADJUSTABLE HEIGHT GOLF PRACTI TEE WITH HINGED STRIKING PL Filed Dec. 11, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY DEAN FA RBAMl v A ias!- A TTORNE Y S United States Patent Ofiice 3,161,411 Patented Dec. 15, 1964 This invention relates to golf practice tees, the tee in accordance with the invention being suitable for use with any standard wood or iron club. Consequently the tee is suitable not only for driving practicebut also for ob taining proficiency in various approach shots.

It is well known that the accuracy required to drive a a golf ball in the required direction is very exacting. The

club face must make contact with the ball in the centre of the club face, at the correct vertical height, also square and in line with the direction of travel, and the required accuracy to play a reasonably competitive game usually takes years of practice to obtain. The tee in accordance .with the invention has been designed to provide a much larger margin for error but at the same time to be capable of indicating any faults in the action of the player. The results obtainable with the tee however will still depend on the ability of the player and the tee will in no way add anything to the perfectly hit shot.

A tee in accordance with the present invention consists broadly of a hinged striking plate on which the ball is cradled and a base plate or other support to which the striking plate is hinged, the rear face of the striking plate being struck by the head of the club when the tee is in use.

The striking plate is so designed that it has a follow through action and moves down over the surface of the 'ball as it moves forward, thus imparting back spin to the ball to increase its trajectory and cause it to drop at a steeper angle to hold its landing position on the green. This action is very difficult to learn normally and usually takes an expert years of practice to achieve efiiciency.

Preferably the ball is supported on the front face of the striking plate by one or more angularly adjustable pins whereby the height of the ball above the ground can be varied to assist in the control of the degree of back spin which it is possible to apply and vary the angle of trajectory.

It will be appreciated that the initial contact of the club face with the back of the striking plate does most of the work, but the club must maintain contact with the plate and ball to provide the necessary reaction which is taken care of by the hinged action of theplate, the hinge axis being preferably at substantially ground level.

Any suitable material may be used in the construction I of the striking plate but it is preferred to construct it from nylon, hard rubber or similar material having a high impact strength.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation partly in section showing the tee in use;

FIGURE 2v is a sectional plan View on the line IIII in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional side elevation with a pair of depending pins 2 and merits trailing end 1 parted to the ball.

with a downwardly and forwardly inclined tongue 3, the pins and tongue when pressed into the ground locating the base plate in position. The trailing end of the base plate is preferably turned downwardly at 4 to enter the ground so that it cannot be hit by the club, the normal arc of swing of the club head being indicated in FIGURE 1 by the line A'A.

As shown clearly in FIGURE 1 the greater part of the length of the base plate is out of contact with the ground and consequently if the base plate is hit by the club head at some distance from the striker plate or for example at points C or D the base plate will be deflected downwardly as shown by dotted lines and push the club head gently upwardly into the correct arc of swing. The base plate'may if desired incorporate a longitudinally arranged blade spring to increase its resiliency in a longitudinal direction.

The leading end of the base plate 1 is bifurcated at 5 to receive a striking plate 6 moulded from nylon, hard rubber or other suitable material, the striking plate being hinged to the base plate by a transverse pin 7, and having a limited pivotal movement about its axis, the normal position of the striking plate being shown by full lines in FIGURE 1, the striking plate when struck by the club being moved into the dotted line position. The striking plate is preferably of the triangular cross-sectional shape shown in FIGURE 2 having a radiussed striking face 8 and ball engaging face 9 being curved or otherwise shaped as shown in FIGURE 1.

The ball 10 is located in position upon the face 9 of the striking plate by a bifurcated locating pin 11 hingedly associated with the pin 7, the lower end of the bifurcated pin closely embracing the pin 7 and gripping the latter whereby the bifurcated locating pin may be moved into a position in which it will support the ball at different heights on the striking plate. For example the ball 10 may occupy the full line position shown, or alternatively the dotted line position. In the first case the line'of trajectory of the ball will besubstantially as indicated by line T and in the second case will be substantially as T. To increase the angle of trajectory still further or'to decrease the angle below that obtainable with the striking plate in the position shown, the latter may be angularly adjustable against an adjustable stop in the form of a slotted sliding plate 12 on the underside of the base plate, theplate 12 supporting the striking plate in an inclined position and being adapted to be locked in any adjusted position by a lock nut 13. Alternatively any other form of adjustment may be provided such as for example a set screw bearing'on the striking plate and revolvably mounted in a bracket on the under side of the base plate. It will be appreciated that the striking plate will with the ball in either of the positions shown, impart back spin to the ball. The degree of back spin imparted will be inversely proportional to angles x and y, i.e. the angles between two tangents emanating from the point of contact of the ball with the striking plate and a horizontal datum line with the ball in the two positions shown. As will be seen in FIGURE 1 the two tangents where they intersect the datum line are in advance of the pivot 7 and consequently back spin of different degrees will be im: By so shaping the front face of the striking plate and so positioning the ball thereon that the tangent passes behind the pivot 7 top spin can be imparted to the ball.

As will be seen clearly in FIGURE 1, the leading end of the locating pin 11 will contact the ground when the ball is struck in advance of the centre of gyration G of the striking plate, the amount z'to produce a down- J ward reaction on the base plate and prevent displacement of the tee from the ground.

Referring now to FIGURES 4 to 6, which illustrate an alternative construction of tee, the leading ball engaging face to the striking plate is in this case inwardly curved in cross-section as at 14 in FIGURE 6, the ball being located on the striking plate by means of a single locatns P n 1 In both constructions the striking plate and locating pin can be hinged about their hinge axis into the chain dotted line position in FIGURE 1 in which the parts lie beneath the base plate in which position the tee can easily be carried in the pocket.

It will be appreciated that when the striking plate is struck by the club the upper end of the striking plate will move down over the rear face of the ball as the latter moves forwardly to impart back spin to the ball and increase its angle of trajectory unless as previously explained the forward face of the striking plate is so shaped and the ball so positioned thereon that top spin is imparted to the ball.

I claim:

1. A golf practice tee comprising a base plate provided with downwardly projecting means for locating the base plate fast on the ground, an upwardly and rearwardly inclined striking plate hinged to the base plate near its front end, at least one locating pin positioned 'on the front side of the striking plate and means frictionally pivoting one end of said locating pin for movement of the free end of the latter toward and away from said striking plate to define a cradle for a golf ball, the vertical position of said ball with respect to. said striking plate being determined by the spacing between the free end of the locating pin and the striking plate.

2. A golf practice tee as claimed in claim 1, in which the locating pin is bifurcated at its free end to engage the ball at two spaced points on opposite sides of the vertical centre line of the striking plate.

3. A golf practice tee as claimed in claim 1, in which said locating pin lies on the vertical centre line of the striking plate, the latter being inwardly curved transversely of the plate to engage the ball and locate it on the vertical centre line of the plate.

4. A golf practice tee as claimed in claim 1, including an adjustable stop on the underside of the base plate for engagement with the striking plate to support the latter at the desired angle.

5. A golf practice tee comprising a base plate provided with downwardly projecting means for locating the base plate fast on the ground, said base plate being bifurcated at its forward end defining a pair of spaced parallel legs, a pin extending transversely between said legs, an upwardly and rearwardly inclined striking plate positioned between said legs and pivoted at one end to said pin, a locating pin also pivotally mounted on said pin and frietionally secured thereto, said locating pin being positioned on the front side of said striking plate to define a cradle for a golf ball therebetween.

Moore Feb. 10, 1925 West Dec. 10, 1957, 

1. A GOLF PRACTICE TEE COMPRISING A BASE PLATE PROVIDED WITH DOWNWARDLY PROJECTING MEANS FOR LOCATING THE BASE PLATE FAST ON THE GROUND, AN UPWARDLY AND REARWARDLY INCLINED STRIKING PLATE HINGED TO THE BASE PLATE NEAR ITS FRONT END, AT LEAST ONE LOCATING PIN POSITIONED ON THE FRONT SIDE OF THE STRIKING PLATE AND MEANS FRICTIONALLY PIVOTING ONE END OF SAID LOCATING PIN FOR MOVEMENT OF THE FREE END OF THE LATTER TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID STRIKING PLATE TO 